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Getting into Death and Other Stories
Contents:
Apollo (1976)
The Asian Shore (1970)
The Birds (1973)
The Colors (1968)
Death and the Single Girl (1976)
Displaying the Flag (1974)
Feathers from the Wings of an Angel (1971)
Getting into Death (1974)
The Joycelin Shrager Story (1975)
Let Us Quickly Hasten to the Gate of Ivory (1970)
The Master of the Milford Altarpiece (1968)
The Persistence of Desire (1974)
The Planet Arcadia (1971)
Quincunx (1969)
Slaves (1967)
[X] Yes (1969)
Apollo (1976)
The Asian Shore (1970)
The Birds (1973)
The Colors (1968)
Death and the Single Girl (1976)
Displaying the Flag (1974)
Feathers from the Wings of an Angel (1971)
Getting into Death (1974)
The Joycelin Shrager Story (1975)
Let Us Quickly Hasten to the Gate of Ivory (1970)
The Master of the Milford Altarpiece (1968)
The Persistence of Desire (1974)
The Planet Arcadia (1971)
Quincunx (1969)
Slaves (1967)
[X] Yes (1969)
227 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 1976
1 person is currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Thomas M. Disch
379 books320 followersThomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction writer and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book—previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book"—in 1999. He had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, a Rhysling Award, and two Seiun Awards, among others.
His writing includes substantial periodical work, such as regular book and theater reviews for The Nation, The Weekly Standard, Harper's, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and Entertainment Weekly.
As a fiction writer and a poet, Disch felt typecast by his science fiction roots. "I have a class theory of literature. I come from the wrong neighborhood to sell to The New Yorker. No matter how good I am as an artist, they always can smell where I come from".
Following an extended period of depression after the death in 2005 of his life-partner, Charles Naylor, Disch stopped writing almost entirely, except for poetry and blog entries, although he did produce two novellas. Disch fatally shot himself on July 4, 2008, in his Manhatten (NYC) apartment.
Naylor and Disch are buried alongside each other at Saint Johns Episcopal Church Columbarium, Dubuque, Iowa. His last book, The Word of God, which was written shortly before Naylor died, was published a few days before Disch's death.
His writing includes substantial periodical work, such as regular book and theater reviews for The Nation, The Weekly Standard, Harper's, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and Entertainment Weekly.
As a fiction writer and a poet, Disch felt typecast by his science fiction roots. "I have a class theory of literature. I come from the wrong neighborhood to sell to The New Yorker. No matter how good I am as an artist, they always can smell where I come from".
Following an extended period of depression after the death in 2005 of his life-partner, Charles Naylor, Disch stopped writing almost entirely, except for poetry and blog entries, although he did produce two novellas. Disch fatally shot himself on July 4, 2008, in his Manhatten (NYC) apartment.
Naylor and Disch are buried alongside each other at Saint Johns Episcopal Church Columbarium, Dubuque, Iowa. His last book, The Word of God, which was written shortly before Naylor died, was published a few days before Disch's death.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 15, 2018
A more 'introverted' collection from the brilliant Thomas Disch. While 'Fun with your New Head' toyed with genres and form, 'Getting into Death' funnels inward and ditches the fantastical for a more absurdist take on reality. And there's plenty of deaths in the book, not necessarily of body, but of spirit and mind. Dopplegangers appear in 'The Asian Shore,' a moody unwinding of quiet horror and existential dread. Patriotism is boldly ripped apart in 'Displaying the Flag' - it's a parable for today's political climate. And there's even a story about a young temp worker orally pleasing Death in the form of a disheveled businessman. But the real standout is the story, 'Let Us Quickly Hasten to the Gate of Ivory' where a brother and sister visit a cemetery to pay respects to their parents, only to find themselves on winding paths that never reach an exit. It's a horrifying and oddly touching story, and right up there with Disch's 'Descending' where a man spends his eternal purgatory on an escalator going down...and down. I'm surprised both stories haven't been anthologized. Disch is a master. His playful and at times cruel cynicism is surely missed today.
June 25, 2015
Heed the title of this volume - it's one of the more unremittingly morbid of Disch's works, and I'm including "The Genocides" where humanity is vacuumed into extinction like a infestation of bugs. This collection of stories, mostly about dying and death, is a bit of a grim mishmash, and feels a little like a retailing of story remnants left over from more successful collections. There are some highlights, though: "Apollo" will delight fans of his later work, "The M.D." as the god Apollo becomes the ultimate scenester in Greenwich Village. "Death and the Single Girl" also has the trademark Disch black humor; here a suicidal woman seeks release from life by giving sordid blow-jobs to Death.
"Displaying the flag" has a fun little premise: a deeply closeted BDSM aficionado, forced to give up his pastime for fear of discovery, sublimates his desires into an overzealous patriotism that (as Disch is hoping to underscore) becomes as fetishistic as any bondage party. Probably this was more effective as political satire when BDSM was met strictly with disapprobation; in our more permissive era the moral of this morality tale becomes somewhat blunted.
Then there's my favorite of the collection, "Let Us Quickly Hasten to the Gates of Ivory," where a brother and sister, paying their respects at their parent's graveside, find themselves trapped in a boundless cemetery. To Disch's credit he doesn't tack a Twilight Zone ending onto this one (the implication is obvious enough), and lets the story remain mysterious (like death itself, I suppose).
But these few morsels are surrounded by a tedious abundance of drab gloom. Disch's misanthropy and pessimism works, most of the time, because it is illuminated by his delicious black humor. The almost certain doom towards which his characters inexorably proceed thus appears not with the grim finality of death, but with the necessity of a punchline. But these stories? Just depressing. And a wholly unwelcome reminder of Disch's own fate, at that.
"Displaying the flag" has a fun little premise: a deeply closeted BDSM aficionado, forced to give up his pastime for fear of discovery, sublimates his desires into an overzealous patriotism that (as Disch is hoping to underscore) becomes as fetishistic as any bondage party. Probably this was more effective as political satire when BDSM was met strictly with disapprobation; in our more permissive era the moral of this morality tale becomes somewhat blunted.
Then there's my favorite of the collection, "Let Us Quickly Hasten to the Gates of Ivory," where a brother and sister, paying their respects at their parent's graveside, find themselves trapped in a boundless cemetery. To Disch's credit he doesn't tack a Twilight Zone ending onto this one (the implication is obvious enough), and lets the story remain mysterious (like death itself, I suppose).
But these few morsels are surrounded by a tedious abundance of drab gloom. Disch's misanthropy and pessimism works, most of the time, because it is illuminated by his delicious black humor. The almost certain doom towards which his characters inexorably proceed thus appears not with the grim finality of death, but with the necessity of a punchline. But these stories? Just depressing. And a wholly unwelcome reminder of Disch's own fate, at that.
April 19, 2024
A couple of the stories showed some uncanny prescience by talking about the Far Right co-opting the political apparatus here in the United States and how they demonize the other side as “covert communists”. But the stories were either so turgid and pompous or so utterly boring that I would struggle to get through 6 pages without setting it aside and going to something else. I didn’t enjoy this collection at all.
April 8, 2024
great for sleeping
March 14, 2016
Probably Disch's most consistent story collection. Highlights are The Asian Shore, Displaying the Flag (about the evolution of an unlikely Tea Party member)), Apollo (which updates Greek myths to 1970's Manhattan, where Apollo is a rich, privileged, and bisexual metropolitan), and The Jocelyn Schrager Story (the excruciating humiliations of love).
Read
June 6, 2015In one of these stories, possibly the titular one, a woman gives the Grim Reaper head.
March 28, 2017
More than novels.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews